The Storyteller
by Charmed-Triquetra
Summary: Chloe and Clark get trapped in a thriller by a meteor-affected unhinged writer, who is consumed with entrapping his former lover.
1. Distractions

As her computer bleeped, announcing another completed disc, Chloe Sullivan pulled it out of her hard drive and labelled it.

"Client File #27615-B" Chloe muttered under her breath as she slipped it into a protective cover and placed it carefully in her box of files. The Isis Foundation was moving into the Watchtower, where she would be better equipped to keep an eye on the Justice League and take care of her clients at the Foundation, so all her files were to be backed up and protected for the move.

As she progressed to putting a blank CD into her computer to take off her next batch of files, she felt her thoughts uncontrollably turn to the last time she stood within the Watchtower. It had been a bittersweet thing: Jimmy Olsen, her Jimmy, had bought it for her only to die there.

She had stood there after his funeral, seeing the stains of his blood not yet cleared from the floor. She could see the remains of blood from Davis Bloome, who also died that day. Both men killed each other out of love for her, died within mere feet of her, and all she could do was watch. The pains of the funeral continued to squeeze her heart so hard that it hurt to beat, it hurt to breathe or think. Her husband was dead, her close friend also, and her cousin missing.

Then Clark came into the room, heralding the worst moment in her life, when he announced that he would be staying away from her as well. Four people she loved were ripped from her life and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She had remained rooted to that spot for a long time, crying as though her soul had been ripped into a million little pieces. Then she had become numb, she'd started scrubbing the floor to remove all of the blood and debris. By the time she was done, she realised that the Watchtower was ready to be made into the new Justice League HQ.

Which is why she had plunged herself into her work. She had been ignoring phone calls, reorganising files ready for packaging, backing up all of the computer files and reprogramming all of the networks to prevent corruption while the hardware was dismantled and reassembled. Everything she could think to do to prevent herself from thinking about all of her losses. Yes, Lois had finally returned, but she had all but forgotten that she too had been friends with Jimmy. All she could talk about was how she was meant to be with The Blur and how important she was to him. The fact that Clark was The Blur only made Chloe's heart hurt more. For he was still lost to her. He had ignored her for a while now, whilst all the time communicating with Lois and working at the Daily Planet. It seemed his definition of shutting himself away from the world was simply to cut Chloe out of his life, and that hurt and angered her just as much as losing Jimmy and Davis had.

Suddenly, the ringing of her office phone jolted Chloe from her thoughts. She eagerly rushed over to it and checked the caller ID.

It wasn't a number she recognised, so maybe she could answer this one call. It would distract her for some time, however brief, and what she needed right now was anything to keep her from thinking about how betrayed she was feeling.

She snatched the phone from the table and pushed the receiver to her hear almost too forcefully.

"Hello, Isis Foundation?"

"Can I speak to someone in charge? A Miss Sullivan?" An angry female voice came from the other end. It was a young voice, not much older than Chloe and it was shaking. Not a member of authority, and someone who definitely needed help.

"I'm Chloe Sullivan. How can I help?" Chloe bit back a feeling of guilt that she never changed her letterhead or email to Sullivan-Olsen, although only being married briefly. She swallowed back her tears and concentrated on listening to her caller.

"I need some help" the woman said, "I'm being stalked by a freak." She was definitely angry.

"Okay, slow down," Chloe said calmly, trying hard not to be offended by the word "freak". So this woman was having problems with a meteor infected individual. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened, "What is happening?"

"I can't speak on the phone, it isn't safe." She said, lowering her voice, "Can I meet you at the Mill Yard Cafe on Fifth? Hurry." With that, she hung up.

Chloe put down the receiver and grabbed her coat and handbag. She wasn't too far from the Cafe and used to go there with Jimmy on their lunch breaks from the Planet or for a quick buzz of caffeine on the way to the Foundation. She ran to her computer to remove the completed file transfer and activated the security functions before heading out of the door.


	2. The Story of Kate and Derek

The winter wind picked up as Chloe hurried towards the Mill Yard Cafe, which was long closed for the night. As the wind blew the light but chilling rain into her face, she pulled up the collar of her green coat to protect her ears and kept a firm grip on her red woollen beret. Her hands grew red with the cold, matching her hat almost precisely, and she made a mental note to buy some new gloves at some point.

Her last pair, if memory served, she had lent to Lois because she had nervously chewed holes in the ones she had been wearing before she was due to pitch a story at the Planet. She had grabbed them on her way out of Chloe's apartment, adding to the list of things that she had stolen from her cousin.

_Stop it!_ Chloe scolded herself. She knew Lois had never meant to swoop in on her territory at the Planet- it had just happened on its own. And she couldn't deny that she was more than able to walk into Tess Mercer's office and get her job back now that Lex Luthor was gone. But the Justice League needed her, and so did her clients at the Isis Foundation.

_Chloe, you've had more than enough time on your hands lately to get back into reporting_, she lectured herself. She scowled. She had had this conversation in her mind far too many times, especially recently. With everything she had lost lately, she had been grasping onto anything that might make her feel normal again, and the truth was that the only thing she knew would help would be writing. Specifically, some investigative journalism. And she would have been lying if she said that she didn't have some hope that this woman she was meeting could lead her to a story. But it was something she constantly denied, and fervently. She wasn't sure she could handle walking the halls of the Daily Planet, continuously seeing the voids left by Jimmy. She wasn't sure she could handle being ignored no matter how amazing her work turned out. And she was certain she couldn't handle watching Clark and Lois banter all day when her best friend of nearly a decade had all but cut her out of his life at the worst possible time.

The rain started coming down harder, so Chloe took shelter on the porch of the cafe and peered out through the thick rainfall. As she saw a woman fast approaching under a silver umbrella with black frills. Before she came fully into view, Chloe did a quick check of herself and managed to swat away a couple of tears that she hadn't realised were falling.

The woman approached Chloe and took shelter under the canopy as well. As she closed her umbrella, Chloe studied her. She was a very stunning woman, even with her wet brown hair hanging in clumps around her tearstained face. She had a slim frame and captivating green eyes. The woman pulled herself together and held out her hand,

"Miss Sullivan?" Chloe shook her hand,

"Call me Chloe, please. And you are?"

"My name is Kate. I wanted to talk to you about-" Kate cut off and looked around her nervously.

"Kate? Are you alright?" Chloe asked cautiously, trying to follow the woman's gaze to see what she was looking for, if it was indeed there. Startled, Kate turned back to face Chloe and manoeuvred her hair so that it masked the side of her face that would be seen from the opposite street and ducked her head slightly.

"Yes, no. I... I'm just worried that I might have been followed."

"By the person you spoke to me on the phone about?" Chloe guessed. When Kate didn't respond, Chloe probed more, "Who is he? Did he hurt you?"

"Oh, hurt me!" Kate laughed bitterly, as though the suggestion of physical violence was ludicrous on the side of lenience.

"Then what happened?" Chloe asked again, hoping that Kate would open up. After all, she couldn't help if she didn't know what she was up against. After taking one last sweep of the area, Kate decided it was safe and began her story,

"Derek _was_," she said, emphasising the past tense, "my lover. We were together for years. I stood by him through all of his troubles... which was probably why it's been so hard to get away."

"His troubles?"

"Derek's a writer. A couple of years ago, he was blowing up all over town, getting his stories and poetry published, doing signings... but then the pressure kicked in and his inspiration dried up. I mean, completely. He was so depressed. He was missing deadlines, missing out on contracts. When he started to turn to alcohol, one of our friends tried to help him out with a good luck charm."

"A good luck charm?" Chloe couldn't help but repeating. She had been known to be superstitious at times, but she did wonder how important a little charm could be to the story.

"Yeah, our friend went to this farm town in Kansas over the summer and came back with this little green rock. Apparently the guy he bought it from said it was from the stars and could inspire creativity."

_And the story wouldn't be complete without a bit of Kryptonite!_ Chloe thought bitterly, wishing that she didn't have to be reminded of Clark at every turn of her job and her life.

"I thought it was a load of rubbish too, but it worked. So well that he took it everywhere with him. He even slept with it under his pillow, which I always thought was weird. And it just got weirder. He got stranger. I just assumed it was because he was still drinking in secret."

"I take it that he wasn't?" Chloe prodded when Kate fell silent. She shook her head,

"About a month ago, he sat me down and he told me that something strange, something wonderful had happened to him. He said that the green rock made him able to visualise things like he never had before. That his stories were coming to life before his eyes... and he interacted with his characters! Can you even imagine that?"

Chloe nodded at Kate, prompting her to continue. So what she was dealing with was a writer affected by overexposure to Kryptonite and an overactive imagination. She still couldn't see what could have upset Kate so much.

"I didn't believe him at first. I mean, it just seemed insane. I begged him to stop drinking but he grew angrier with me. It went on for days until I couldn't take it anymore. I left him."

"So if you didn't believe him, why have you come to me?"

"I'm not finished." Kate continued, with the same laugh she used earlier. Chloe felt a pit in her stomach, knowing that this story was going to get worse.

"Derek didn't call me at all when I left, and I thought that maybe he would have let me go. That he'd buried himself in his writing and I would wake up one morning to find a scathing poem about me in the local paper. But instead, a few days ago, I woke up feeling the urge to see Derek. I didn't fight it, I didn't question it. I called him, crying and begging for him to take me back... and a woman answered the phone. I was stunned, but it didn't deter me.

"It was when the snow was at its heaviest and we were being warned to stay indoors. But I didn't care. I got out of my building and walked through the thick snow and skated over the ice until I reached his apartment. The other woman, this gorgeous leggy blonde came to the door in nothing but one of Derek's shirts, but I pushed her aside and walked over to him. I told him that I loved him and I couldn't live without him. He smiled his warmest smile and pulled me into his arms and kissed me..."

Kate trailed off, looking extremely pale. Chloe's heart sank further when she realised what had happened,

"And then you woke out of your trance." She was stunned. Of all the sick people she had met, this guy was way up there.

"I can't believe he was telling me the truth." Kate said, her anger edging back into her voice, "and I can't believe that he would do that to anyone. Especially me. And he might do it again."

"And you came to me hoping that I could protect you." Chloe stated, finishing Kate's thought. She nodded hopefully, still looking around in case Derek or someone he knew was close by. As far as Chloe could see, the street was completely empty. She turned to Kate,

"I will do some research and I will do my best to find some way of keeping you safe. Call me at the Foundation tomorrow and I will let you know what I've found out." She dug into her purse and handed a business card to Kate, "My cell number is on there if there's an emergency. If you feel any urge to see your ex, call me immediately. I have friends who can protect you."

Kate took the card and slipped it into her handbag in a protective compartment with her cell phone. With one last look of gratitude to Chloe, she disappeared into the rainy night. Chloe watched her go, thinking about what the poor woman had gone through. Pleased with both a chance to help someone and a decent distraction, Chloe headed back to the office.

She had a lot of work to do.


	3. Confrontation

_A/N- As a present for you who waited so long for an update, an extra long chapter. Enjoy!_

**Part Three**

Chloe yawned for, what probably was, the hundredth time in the last hour. Thanking her past self again for setting up a coffee pot next to her computer system, she sipped on her cup of coffee. She was glad that she hadn't packed it away just yet, figuring that as long as the Isis Foundation was open, she would need coffee.

She had definitely needed it tonight... or, rather, this morning. After her meeting with Kate, Chloe had gone straight back to Isis and got to work on researching anything that might help her new client. Unfortunately, most of her resources on Kryptonite and its effects on the personality were her own archives, since she had the most contact with the meteor infected. Even Lana's preliminary documents from the dawn of the Isis Foundation weren't that much help. Truth be told, her files contained more information about Lex Luthor's misdeeds than anything else.

So Chloe had spent her night gulping down coffee after coffee and studying the psychology of writers, the effects of imagination on a person's waking life and various articles about Derek himself. Kate hadn't been exaggerating when she said Derek had been huge. Although Chloe had never read any of his work herself, it seemed like he had legions of fans and many prized literary works under his belt. After a certain point, the reviews and articles took a nasty turn, criticising Derek for cracking under the pressure and failing to meet the expectations of his fans. She could see why he had tried to escape from reality with alcohol and, later, the Kryptonite. What she found particularly interesting was how the Kryptonite radiation had managed to hone in on what his weakness was and give it a supernatural boost. This seemed to be a pattern with a lot of meteor-infected individuals, and she wondered whether or not something like this could be harnessed. Perhaps into a cure or-

A gush of wind interrupted Chloe's thoughts. She scowled as she leant forward to grab any scattering papers, not because she was annoyed at the idea of her work being disorganised, because she knew the cause of the wind.

Mr Dead himself, Clark Kent.

She decided that she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of being pleased to see him, or the comfort of being willing to forget what he had said to her. Instead, she chose to ignore him completely. She brushed back part of her hair that had been blown out of place, found her place in the book she had been studying and resumed taking notes. From the corner of her eye, she could see Clark's reflection in her computer screen.

He was staring holes into the back of her head, willing her to say something. His face was like stone, however, as though he was refusing to show any of the emotions he was feeling. And, of course, he was in his ridiculous "Blur" getup, with the trench coat, black jeans and t-shirt with his family sigil etched on. She couldn't tell if it was chalk, spray-paint or really bad acrylic, and she didn't care enough to ask. She knew he was here to ask for help and she couldn't believe he would have the nerve to do it after everything that's happened.

After a long period of silence, and coming to the realisation that she was not going to make the effort to speak first, Clark cleared his throat,

"Chloe." He said, expecting her to turn around and greet him with her usual warm smile. When she made no move to look at him, instead just turning over a page in her book, he deflated a little. He had expected Chloe to be upset with him, but he had just assumed that she hadn't tried to contact him in a while because she was busy or felt he needed some space.

"The Isis Foundation is closed." Chloe said flatly. It was a lie, of course, she was still open for business until it was time to pack up her computers and move into the Watch Tower, which she was avoiding despite her initial desire to move. She still wasn't ready to start using the place her husband had died in as a place of business. And, with Lana being infused with Kryptonite, she was unlikely to ever see her again and the Isis office was all she had left of her once best friend. She had lost so much in the last year, and much of it she sacrificed because of Clark. So he could stand getting the brush off once in a while.

"Chloe, don't be like that-" Clark began, but stopped when he saw every inch of Chloe's body stiffen. She only did that when she was revving up to yell at Clark if he said anything more that she found out of line. He sighed and decided to go with another approach and peered over her shoulder. If he could find some way of helping her with her project, it might soften her a little and she would be willing to help him.

"Dream Interpretation," Clark peered at the title of one of the books on Chloe's desk, "Dream Leaping... Physical Manifestation of Subconscious Desires..." Clark's voice grew more perplexed as he read each title, wondering what it was that Chloe was doing. Did she think he was acting differently because of his subconscious? He was about to ask her this when she huffed in annoyance and spun around in her chair. He backed away so she wouldn't smack her head on his chin and knock herself out. Her expression of irritation hadn't softened,

"What do you want, Clark?" She snapped.

"What are you working on?" Clark asked in reply, "If this is about-"

"You?" Chloe finished his sentence and stood up, her cheeks flushing pink. Clark took a cautionary step back, realising that he had made a tactical error.

"You really think that I'm spending my time researching theories on you? I do have a job!"

"Chloe... I..." Clark stammered, trying to find a response to make his friend less angry.

"And you know what, Clark?" Chloe continued, raising her voice, "Even if I didn't have a mountain of work to deal with, I wouldn't spend my time on someone who was supposed to be my friend but walked out on me on the worst day of my life and only recognises my existence when they want something!"

"Chloe..."

"No, 'how are you holding up?', no 'how are Jimmy's family?'. Just a drop in whenever you and my so-called cousin need help researching a story!"

Clark was speechless. He realised he had been a little tactless not checking how Chloe was after Jimmy's death, but he had been grieving too and he thought they both needed some space. Chloe stared at Clark, expecting an apology, but he stared back in a stunned silence. She felt her eyes start to glisten with tears, so she turned back to her desk and sat down. She'd been through the books enough now to be able to write a thesis on a link between artistic block and psychological torment, and she could probably recite most of the works verbatim now. She wasn't going to get any more use out of these things. She closed the book slowly, wanting to slam it but not wanting Clark to think that she was going to start talking to him again, and proceeded to look through all of her notes.

Clark continued to watch her helplessly. He was beginning to realise how much of a jerk he must have seemed to Chloe. In his mind, he was giving her space whereas to her it looked like he had just chosen to cut her out. Especially when his need for a companion meant he had spent more time with Lois- to Chloe that must have looked, and felt like, she was being replaced.

"Chloe... I'm really sorry..."

"Of course you are. You always are." Chloe said flatly, returning to her initial state of indifference to Clark as she annotated her notes further. Sighing, she put down her pencil and turned to face her former best friend,

"What was the story you wanted help with? Don't pretend that's not why you're here."

Clark looked ashamed. Chloe was right and now he felt like an even bigger jerk. For a moment, there were no words between the two of them, only a large amount of discomfort and tension. Chloe's computer whirred in the background, the only sound that filled the room while Clark tried to form a response that wouldn't upset her.

Suddenly, Chloe's phone rang, piercing through the near-silence. She lunged for the phone, knowing that it had to be Kate.

"Kate?"

"Chloe?" Kate's voice came from the other end. Her voice was shaking even more now, any strength she had left was gone, "He... he... I don't know what to do. I'm not safe. I do-"

"Kate, slow down." Chloe interrupted, using the soothing tone she used with most of her clients, "Tell me what happened."

"I don't know!" Kate cried, "I thought he was crazy before, but he's really lost it now. He said that he's going to- he's coming. Please, you have to come quick! I'm on Twenty-fifth."

"Okay, I'm on my-" Chloe was cut off when she felt something grab onto her waist and pull her away. She tightened her grip on her phone- she couldn't explain to the phone company _again_ why her cell needed replacing- and shut her eyes to shield them from the wind.

When she opened her eyes, she was on Twenty-Fifth and Clark was still gripping her waist.

"-way." Chloe finished before closing her phone. She turned around to face Clark, pushing his arms off her,

"Were you listening to that call? That was a private conversation with a client!" She saw Clark starting to protest and she softened, "But she does sound like she needs me right away, so thanks."

As she started to walk away to find Kate, Clark reached out and grabbed her arm,

"Chloe, I don't know what's going on, but it sounds too dangerous for you to do it alone." Chloe looked down at Clark's grip and looked back up at him with a glare,

"Oh, so now you care? I'm a big girl and I can handle this my-"

"Chloe!" Kate's shriek interrupted Chloe's outburst and she shrugged out of Clark's grip to run in the direction of the voice. Kate appeared through the poor visibility caused by the rain, her hair plastered to her face and her make-up completely smeared. The moment she saw Clark standing behind Chloe, she frowned,

"I thought everything I said was confidential!"

"It is!" Chloe called over the heavy rain, "He's was my ride. Now he's leaving."

"I'm not going anywhere." Clark protested, "I can help, Chloe, you know I can."

"Kate." A new voice interrupted the argument, and Kate rushed to stand behind Chloe. Clark took a step forward to conceal both women. Unconsciously, Chloe stepped a centimetre ahead of Clark as though to prove that she didn't need him to protect her. Derek stepped through the curtain of rain,

"Why did you run away?" He asked, with a voice tinged with pain, "Everything was so perfect, so poetic."

"So made up? So forced?" Kate spat back, tears springing to her eyes and mingling with the rain falling on her face, "That's what you did, you forced yourself on me!"

"You were receptive." Derek reminded her in an almost patronising tone, "You couldn't wait to-"

"Because that's what you wrote!"

Chloe's stomach turned when she realised what had happened. No wonder Kate was a mess. Clark made eye contact with a questioning look at Chloe, who nodded. His vision darkened as he came to the same conclusion as his best friend.

"You're sick." Clark said with an unpleasant edge to his voice, one that said he had half a mind to throw Derek halfway across Metropolis.

"It's all what's supposed to happen." Derek ignored Clark and continued to address Kate, "We were going to reunite, but you had a moment of doubt and disappeared into the rain."

"Stop." Kate's voice came out as a whimper and she stepped forward against her own will. Chloe felt Kate push against her shoulder as she tried to walk past her. Before she could react, Derek continued with his speech,

"I followed you into the downpour, wishing fervently that you would realise that your love for me is stronger than your fear of letting yourself be vulnerable. The rain continued to fall, washing away everything in its path, making it harder and harder to see. I had to rely on nothing more than my heart's pull towards you. And then I saw you in the middle of the street. You'd stopped and waited for me to come to you and, when you saw me too, you couldn't help but succumb to your need to be in my arms."

"Stop it." Kate started moving towards Derek with more conviction, yet fighting it with whatever strength she had at her disposal. Chloe reached out and grabbed Kate's arm to keep her from getting any closer to the psychopath. She pulled Kate back behind her and walked up to Derek,

"You need help." Chloe hissed, then backpedalled into Isis Foundation mode, "That meteor rock you used as a charm has infected you. It's dangerous to you and those around you."

"Dangerous?" Derek snorted, "It's improved my life and I can do whatever I want!"

"You can't have Kate." Clark said with a stern tone, "You can't force her to be with you."

Derek just looked at Clark and smiled. Before Chloe could react, there was a flash of light and the street vanished around them.


End file.
